Is social media hurting the great outdoors experience?

"Is social media hurting the great outdoor experience ? "

I feel the question is "painting with a very broad brush"

Platform; which social media platform are you asking about. IMHO, this forum is a very well managed forum with some very knowledgeable and experienced members. I can not say that about all hunting and outdoors forums, or 'Facebook" as well as some others

Gererational: I am sure April and Idfirelass believes it is. Hunting wife and I are possibly, yes and no, depending on which social media we are talking about and how it is used. Mkekhuntress and Randi grew up with it and possibly have the best "mind filter" for it

Gender : again depending on the format, This forum would be seen as a plus for all 6 of us I believe, but also believe some of the stuff female hunters have posted on Facebook would be frowned upon by all 6 of us.---but---possibly "understood" by Randi and Mkelkhuntress more than the other 4 of us.

However, on the other hand, females are supposedly the fastest growing segment of hunting and gun ownership. Did social media help accomplish that ? I bet it had something to do with it.

Your question says "outdoor experience". Hunting, Fishing, camping, --plus--hiking, mountain climbing, kayaking, skiing, river skating, dog sledding, trapping,--women are more involved than ever in all of these activities, so if you like to be alone, social media and even women are ruining it for you. But if your goal is to get more "people" in the "outdoors" ( which is what you said--outdoor experience ), then to some end it ( social media ) is working.

However; I see people join this forum and ask for hunting areas/advise/help and they never show up again. to that end I thought some of you might like this. I was asked where I would go to hunt Grizzly. I told him to get map and draw a triangle. Whitehorse to Yellowknife up to Tuktoyaktuk and back down to Whitehorse. That is where I would look.

My husband said "you are such a bitch" If the shoe fits and all that;)
 
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although we have some great content and producers like Fresh Tracks, there are a lot that do far more harm than good IMO

Spot on here. Just look at all the objectively terrible stuff people are doing as we speak for social media fame... Van Woerkom and dozens of others poaching, the idiot from PSE's recent ad hopping a fence with a nocked broadhead, people who have no idea what they're doing giving dangerously bad advice just for attention. All of these are made much, much worse by the monetization of social media. Not only is it fundamentally destroying the way or society relates to each other and the mental health of the majority of the country, it's also causing harm to the world of the outoors. Truly a cancer.
 
. I’ll take the insta-huntress-hoes over all the rest, at least their version of prostitution of our pastime is easy to look at.

take a look at some of the instagram pictures posted by females. You might see some that dont look like "hoes"

This is exactly the reason some of us females refuse to post pictures on social media.
I believe that a few tens of thousands of hunters - hunters who grew up with hunting parents in hunting country (winners of the sperm-lottery as one HT-member calls them) expect hundreds of millions of fellow citizens to pay for their public lands, pay for their wildlife conservation, support regulations and laws that uniquely benefits hunters, etc, etc, but sure as hell don't want to see them out in the field. And somehow, cuz grand-pappy used to hunt this valley none of a guy's 330 million fellow wildlife co-owners should be able to do the same. What is democratic or equitable about hoarding access to public land or information helpful in engaging in a great hobby using what is supposed to be a shared public trust.
False premise.

If there were no social media/youtube/ love for the outdoors then they would not exist.

Unless there is a $ value on nature/recreation/wild places they will be turned into strip malls.

The conversation needs to change from "social media is evil" to how can we use social media to educate folks on how to conserve our public lands.

I agree with both these responses.

__________ ___________

I believe social media can be a disease to some, like alcoholism and drugs are to others, it can be addicting and all consuming. We were never allowed to take
electronic's into the field, or when we did farm work, or to the dinner table, etc.

But, to each their own, Just the thoughts from someone who grow up in the electronic age.
 
Yes and no.

Yes because it gives those against hunting fairly easy targets and a even easyer way for harrestment via bot accounts and being able to just spread hate in seconds with thousands of accounts and no remourse or punishment since they can wait 10 minutes and do it again with no issue.

No because it helps bring those wanting to learn (hi im one) and those who have the knowledge to share together in ways that is alot easyer on people then traveling tons just to find out maybe hunting isnt for them.
 
The biggest problem with the insta hunters is they are the ones showing "how easy it is" and causing this giant influx of people. What they don't tell you is they are hunting giant tracts of private land and paying thousands of dollars to hunt there. The guides have all the animals scouted and spotted they just show up and are taken to the general location. They kill their animal and post pictures of them with 150 pound packs that they carry 10 ft and then drive the side by side up and load it. They go back to their comfy lodge with a home cooked meal, but don't post that. Their creating a false sense of reality for every day people that there's a trophy animal behind every bush.
 
The biggest problem with the insta hunters is they are the ones showing "how easy it is" and causing this giant influx of people. What they don't tell you is they are hunting giant tracts of private land and paying thousands of dollars to hunt there. The guides have all the animals scouted and spotted they just show up and are taken to the general location. They kill their animal and post pictures of them with 150 pound packs that they carry 10 ft and then drive the side by side up and load it. They go back to their comfy lodge with a home cooked meal, but don't post that. Their creating a false sense of reality for every day people that there's a trophy animal behind every bush.
I got bored yesterday and started watching some girl hunting public wiha in Kansas and was impressed that she actually showed the fact that she didn’t see anything the first 3 days.
 
Today social media announced that a certain place was loaded up with birds right where I was headed so today I hate social media

Well, that’s just being a dipshit. Kind of like the guy running his mouth in the bar, only more widespread.
 
I saw a truck at a trailhead this year decked out with prostaff stickers and giant decals from some YouTube show I’ve never heard of. I was annoyed until I stalked his Instagram and found out that he hunted something like 50 days without getting a shot at a cow or raghorn and almost froze to death up my trail.

Maybe that will keep him away for a while.
 
I saw a truck at a trailhead this year decked out with prostaff stickers and giant decals from some YouTube show I’ve never heard of. I was annoyed until I stalked his Instagram and found out that he hunted something like 50 days without getting a shot at a cow or raghorn and almost froze to death up my trail.

Maybe that will keep him away for a while.
Utard?
 
Yes it's hurting but at the same point many topics are being shared more like the public land access issue.
 

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